After his huge win over Gerry Cooney in June of 1982, Larry Holmes basked in the new found respect he had finally earned. His next title defense was set for November 26th in the Houston Astrodome against Randall ‘Tex’Cobb. Cobb was a former college football player who had lost to Ken Norton and Michael Dokes in his two biggest tests to date. On paper it looked like a mismatch to me, and I would only be proved right.
I went over my sister’s house to watch the fight on ABC the Friday night after Thanksgiving. As for the fight itself, it was a 15 round whitewash, with Larry using Cobb’s face as an easy target the entire night. The one sided affair was so bad, that Howard Cosell began lambasting referee Steve Crosson as the fight went progressed for not stopping the massacre. However, Cobb never was off his feet, and lasted the full 15 round distance. Holmes easily raised his undefeated record to 42-0.
Not long after the bout, Cosell announced he wanted nothing to do with professional boxing and its sleaziness anymore and would only announce amateur fights from that point on. I for one didn’t care, because his pompous attitude and lack of real knowledge of the sport was too evident, and a better voice wouldn’t be that hard to find.
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